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Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig was born in Victoria on April 30, 1975, to parents Pam, a forensic dentist, and Michael, a clinical and forensic psychologist. From a young age, Caroline was surrounded by music, singing and all facets of performance. She has many fond memories of running around her grandmothers back garden, dressed in her curtains singing and dancing. At the age of ten, her parents enrolled her in St Martin’s Youth Arts Centre, which Caroline quickly grew to love. When she was eleven, Caroline starred in her first major role- as Nell, in the stage production of Seven Little Australians. During her final year of school, Caroline completed her VCE, achieving fine marks, and the following year was left with the decision of enrolling in law or acting. Siding with stability, Caroline chose law and went to her orientation day at the University of Tasmania, but quickly realised it was not for her. She travelled to London for a brief period and sung in dark London pubs when she was still only seventeen. It was after this stint in the cold that Caroline returned to Australia and begun an arts degree. At university, she was apart of an all girl band called Vinyl Discharge, who frequently played in and around Melbourne. She also recorded a track, titled Du Bist Die Rah, for Melbourne band the Raga Dolls. Although successful musically in her band and as something of a solo artist, Caroline couldn’t ignore her desire to act, and easily gained a place at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) where she studied in all areas of performance, even the brilliance of Shakespeare, which still remains close to the heart of Caroline today. Whilst at NIDA CAroline also appeared in the film clip of the Silverchair song Miss You Love. Fresh out of NIDA, Caroline auditioned for Blue Heelers, Australia’s number one drama at the time. She won the role of Tess Gallagher and her first episode, titled On the Road, aired on May 24, 2000. Many great performances by Caroline took place during her time on Blue Heelers, most notably her interaction with at the time up and coming child star Emily Browning, who later went on to achieve fame in the US. In 2001 Caroline found out just how much her fans loved her, when she was nominated for the Most Popular New Female Talent silver Logie, and then in 2002 was voted televisions most stylish woman, as voted by TV Week readers. Caroline showed off her musical talents in one episode of Blue Heelers, titled Salvation, which aired in mid 2002. In this episode Caroline performed a stunning rendition of Amazing Grace. Caroline has taken on many theatre roles during and after her time on Blue Heelers. She played lead roles in the stage productions of Falling Petals, Babes in the Wood (with entertainment favourite Max Gillies) and Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Knight, where she took on the coveted role of Viola. Caroline has also made several guest appearances on ABC’s The Glasshouse, Channel 7 Perth’s Telethon and occasionally sings in Melbourne restaurants on Sunday evenings. Caroline announced her departure from Blue Heelers in the first few months of 2003, much to the disappointment of her legion of fans. She left the show amidst a stirring storyline and with more than 130 episodes of the drama to her name. Her final episode, Motherhood, aired on September 10, 2003, but Caroline didn’t stop to take a breath. She went quickly into The Twelfth Knight. Early in 2004, whispers circulated that Caroline was in line for a role in the Ten Networks new drama series The Cooks, which was also starring her ex boyfriend Toby Schmitz, but nothing eventuated. The series, as it turned out, flopped. In 2005 Caroline performed in The Heartbreak Tour, an independent SBS project. Here she appeared alongside a wealth of Australian talent including Daniella Farinacci, Rhys Muldoon, Anthony Hayes, Damian Walshe-Howling and Alexandra Schepisi. In 2007 Caroline was back in the faces of the Australian viewing public with a small but noticable role in the ABC's dramatic account of the 1998 waterfront dispute, Bastard Boys. Here she starred alongside Colin Friels, Jack Thompson and Dan Wyllie, as well as her former Blue Heelers castmate Daniel Frederiksen. 2008 saw Caroline again taste success on a commercial network when she took on the role of fictional character Jacqui James, in the Nine Network's controversial depiction of Melbourne's gangland war, Underbelly. The series concluded on May 7, 2008, amid speculation a second series is all but going to happen. It is unknown if Caroline will appear in any second series.